Massive drone attack hits Moscow refinery for the second time in days
Moscow Oil Refinery is located in the city’s Kapotnya district (Photo: kishjar? / Wikimedia Commons)
A massive drone attack targeted Moscow, with Russian air defense shooting down 30+ drones heading toward the capital, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed on June 18.
8:40 Today's drone attack on Moscow is the largest of the entire war
This was reported by the Russian opposition online publication Agentstvo. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed that over 180 UAVs attacked the Russian capital (Sobyanin referred to them as shot down by 8:15 a.m.). This is more than ever before. As Agentstvo noted, the largest attack on Moscow until now was the drone raid on March 11, 2025, when authorities reported the destruction of 74 UAVs; March 14-17, 2026, with 310 UAVs over four days; and the May 17 strike, when over 120 drones attacked the city.
What else is known about the attack:
All Moscow airports were closed until 4 a.m.; the restrictions were lifted after 8 a.m. At Sheremetyevo Airport, passengers were evacuated, including directly from airplanes.
In the area of the burning Moscow Oil Refinery, authorities blocked off several streets. A section of the MKAD (Moscow Automobile Ring Road) from the Novoryazanskoye to the Kashirskoye highway was also closed in both directions.
The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel published photos of Red Square and the Kremlin, showing machine gunners on the towers, walls, and the mausoleum, as well as an armored vehicle with a machine gunner near the Kremlin. The publication claims that Red Square was sealed off.
8:23 "Moscow continues to be under attack — this is now the new normal because Putin does not want to end the war," Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, commented on today's strike.
8:16 The Exilenova+ Telegram channel reports at least five burning points at the Moscow Oil Refinery. The channel also published footage of Russian air defense systems attempting to shoot down the drones that are attacking Moscow in swarms today.
7:43 Preliminary OSINT geolocation of the fire sources in Moscow following the attack on the Moscow Oil Refinery has been published.
6:41 The Mayor of Moscow admitted that several drones "managed to reach" the Moscow Oil Refinery.
"Measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to Sobyanin, damage was also recorded on the territory of the Sadovod shopping center.
"Minor damage to one of the buildings was recorded. There are no casualties. Emergency services are working at the site where the debris fell," he stated.
Amid the attack, restrictions on arriving and departing flights were introduced at the Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky airports.
This marks the second attack on the Moscow Oil Refinery in the past two days.
On June 16, the plant was attacked by Ukrainian drones. As the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) noted, the UAVs damaged the "heart of the plant"—a key primary oil refining unit.
As noted by the Exilenova+ Telegram channel, the refinery is surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds, of air defense system units.
According to estimates by Defense Express, the drones bypassed at least five Pantsir systems mounted on towers or elevations.
Moscow Oil Refinery processes about 11 million tons of oil per year and supplies approximately 50% of the Russian capital's diesel needs. Reuters agency, citing its own sources, noted that the plant halted operations following the drone attack.
On June 17, The Moscow Times reported that mobile elevated platforms with armed soldiers began appearing in the Russian capital to combat drones following the initial attack on the Moscow Oil Refinery.
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